Radiance of Persia
by PhantomLilac
Summary: When Erik was in love with Jessephine, everything was perfect. They have a daughter, and never has he felt more love in the darkness of Persia. Then she died. Alone and lost, he must raise their child. When Christine Daae is captured by authorities and forced to marry him, the spirit of his deceased wife will return to guide him on the path of true love, and it's a bumpy road. E/C
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay so I said I was going to work on an older story, Daughter of the Phantom, because of the no success that came with At The Point. YES, and NO, to my followers.**

**This is the reworked version of Daughter of the Phantom, but different and less time-skippy. Indeed, as the title suggests, it begins in Persia, with Erik, Jessephine, and yes, the birth of little Fae, but of course, Erik is stuck in Persia and witnesses the death of his wife in person. And then there's Christine...**

**The rest of the plot will follow along the story of DotP but be contrasting with a bit more filler...because my chapters were too short and boring in the original with action happening at a constant instead of truly developing romances. I hope you will like Radiance of Persia~**

**-PhantomLilac**

.::.

**Jessephine**

Oh god, I was going to die. Women weren't supposed to be out at night, but I had to bring my child to him. The child that was his...oh, his indeed. I wanted to cry, for I knew I would be caught and he'd have to see all of this, but he needed his family...

I swiftly ran through the streets. Women in birth had to stay in hospitals, away from their husbands, according to Persian law, but being apart from him would surely kill me from inside out.

At last I came upon the house in the corner of the city, my stomach churning with labor. I banged upon the simply build door, in which my love finally opened it. He was stunned, seeing me here, so late at night.

"J-jessephine? What are you doing here?" he gasped, taking my arm and dragging me inside. I began to cry into my hands, bawling sobs.

"The baby...I wanted them to be with you and..." I choked. He scooped me into his arms, worry crossing his face as he felt my forehead.

"Did you run all the way here?"

"Y-yes," I whimpered innocently.

He shook his head mournfully, placing me on a bed. As soon as I had arrived, I began to feel the spasms within me increase as he squeezed onto my hand for support. Tears were streaming down his eyes, tears for me as every pain I had ever felt returned and forced itself from below...until at last it was all done, and we were both staring in awe at the little child that had just entered the world.

Erik produced the baby blanket I had sewn months before, when I had learned we would have a baby, and swaddled the child up in it, until I cold see her open her big blue eyes.

"Oh-oh Erik," I cried joyously, "This is our daughter..."

He placed a kiss to my lips, but nonetheless fear shook his every movement.

"Yes," he echoed, "This...is our daughter." He seemed numb and white, having to go through this ordeal, he was not used to.

I couldn't tell him now that I knew they would come to kill me, that he'd have to raise my daughter alone. The Shah wouldn't kill a babe, even though he was a cruel man, he wasn't capable of such a torment, he could not raise a hand to kill children, only people, and he'd take his fury out on me.

I had broken a few laws by just doing so. I had broken the law of not getting permission to have a child from the Shah, which was usually a punishment given to the woman. I had broken the law of not calling my husband my master, because we loved each other too much to do so. I had left at night, a severe crime for women. And I hadn't given birth in a hospital.

I was condemned, clearly, to a fate I could not breathe aloud, but I accepted it, only because I knew Erik would need strength to live on with my daughter in hand, no, our daughter.

"Erik..." I saw the light of authorities' torches coming closer, as the door once more was knocked upon. He took the baby in his arms, rocking her almost deliriously as his next words were,

"Yes, dearest Jessephine?"

I swallowed, before forcing a smile on my face.

"I want her name to be Fae." I murmured dully. His fingers entwined with mine, and he must have known this would be our last kiss together.

"It's beautiful, just as much as you," he replied, pressing his lips to mine in a passionate way, before at last...

The door bust open.

"I love you," we both whispered in unison.

.::.

I was to be killed privately by the hands of the Shah himself, Erik forced to watch. We were separated now, as I was chained with nothing but a corset and trousers of old and worn use on me.

I could see the doors open, as the Shah walked in, followed by two guards. These last moments would be, like the kiss, the last time I saw of Erik and baby Fae. Erik looked stern and emotionless now, but his eyes showed the colors of the world, full of hurt, fear, and anger. Not at me, but at this horrible Shah.

I was chained to a small stool implanted onto the floor, as the Shah unleashed his bullwhip.

"You defied the laws, Jessephine Mulheim, and so many laws, you must be put to death. Any last words?" he growled menacingly, lingering so close to me that I could smell the musky alcoholic scent around his breath, coiling and curling towards me as I recoiled away, scrunching up my nose, before a sense of defiance overcame me.

For the first time in a while of my rebelliously perfect life with Erik, I looked to him to see what he thought, and he was as white as the clouds in the sky of May, as his lip trembled. In his arms, he clutched my baby close to his chest, to protect her from the storm of pain yet to become of me.

I didn't care what Erik thought now of what I would say, for the Shah deserved to hear every word.

"I hope someday you die a horrible, wretched death. A husband has every right to be with his wife at important time such as the birth of their child!" I yelled triumphantly.

As the bullwhip came down on my back and I shrieked out, for this was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life, I saw Erik for once look away, tears dripping down his face, before one of the guards grabbed him and forced him to watch every moment of my bloody body being beaten to the death.

He was crying now, he was crying for the loss of me. I wanted to scream to him, "Keep fighting, Erik! I'm not worth saving! Run away with Fae and get away from Persia!"

But instead he was crying out to me, "I'm so sorry, Jessephine, I failed you!"

I struggled so hard to keep every last inch of life in me, but it was getting hazy. Before you knew it, I couldn't even feel anything. The pain left me, as my head lulled down onto the cushioning of the wooden stool, everything faded away, and I stood up to my feet, watching as Erik finally broke free of the guards, run towards me, though he couldn't hear me call to him,

for I was dead.

He placed Fae in one arm, using the other to shake me. The Shah backed away, sneering, before everyone left him alone in the room with my body, as my heart wrenched. He was shaking now, tears still jerking from his shadowed, hollow eyelids.

"Wake up, Jessephine, please wake up!" he uselessly wailed. Though he wouldn't feel it, I rested my arm upon his shoulder and sighed.

"I know you're sad, Erik," I mused, "I know you are. You will learn to get over me and raise Fae to be high above. And when love re-enters your life, I shall return to you and reteach you how to love another, but as an angel of God. Goodbye."

And with that, I reached and walked away into the light, leaving behind my hopes and shattered dreams behind.

.::.

**A/N: To those of you who read DoTP, what did you think of this depiction of Jessephine? Good, bad? Well, leave a review in the comments. It only takes 3 seconds, and I really appreciate them ^.^**


	2. Chapter 2

**Erik's Flashback**

Plant by plant, I tenderly began to water the small garden at my remote cottage on the far side of town. I was a hideous man, so the Shah outcasted me away from normal-faced townsfolk. I didn't mind it, for Nadir and his little boy often strode down my way for my imports of English Tea and a game of chess, for which I was extraordinarily talented at.

Rustle...rustle...

I looked up, wiping my brow in the blazing sun, when I heard the rustling noise grow louder, then SPRING! A lithe shaped person ran out past me, holding a sack of whatever from my house.

"Hey! Stop!" I roared furiously. I knew Persia had many poor folk, but stealing was the lowest of the low.

I chased after the culprit, down the narrow, barren roads. Today was the Shah's birthday, and a ceremony in the middle of town was held, and everyone but me was required to attend by order of the law.

Down a corner this person turned, and I quickly had them outnumbered, when they ducked under my swinging arms and ran back the way they came! What utter lunacy!

I persisted nonetheless, determined to capture this odd crafty thief. I would endure, I had been running away from home upon home all my life, I had the speed of an african wildcat, but no, whoever this was, equally was agile. Every footstep send blazing stamina coursing through my veins, and the adrenaline kicked in, when I tackled them through the crowds of people gathered.

People gasped in alarm, and the Shah stood up to overlook the spectacle of this insanity before himself.

I snatched the bag from their hands, making them narrow their eyes in frustration as guards appeared, capturing them quickly. They struggled, a black scarf covering everything but their eyes, as the Shah approached me.

"Erik, what is the meaning of this?" the Shah snapped.

"Why don't you ask this thief who dared to try to take my things?"

For the first time, the Shah looked at me in concern and a kind of brotherly respect. He was an irritatingly arrogant man, but he daren't argue with his master mason.

"Take off the scarf, reveal this culprit, then!" he ordered with a boom. When the scarf quickly came off, my eyes popped, for thick, flowing curly golden hair came out. Her tan gypsy skin showed her rank upon common men, and her bright blue eyes stunned me, for this was no man, this was a woman!

"You're...you're-" I stammered, but she cut me off with a growl.

"Yeah, a gypsy lady. Go on then, tell the Shah to kill me if I was so awful to be hungry. Go on then!" she threatened.

I stood there in stupor as the Shah raised his eyebrows expectantly. After however long I must have been gazing aimlessly into space, the Shah clapped his hands together.

"Aha! I know just what to do about you..."

.::.

"Marriage!?" this strange woman and I yelped in unison. The Shah giggled deliriously.

"Yes, Erik Mulheim, you are to marry her. Besides, as Persian law, you will need an heir eventually. I'll have the private ceremony done immediately! Ha-ah, this is priceless. Now, wench, what would your name be?"

When the blonde-haired woman turned away and grunted defiantly, he lashed out, slapping her in the face.

"My-my name," she growled through gritted teeth. I hesitated to hear her name. I expected something simple, as Gypsies used easy little French names, but instead, she opened her mouth again after a sigh, breathing the most beautiful name I'd ever heard.

"My name is...Jessephine. Jessephine."

.::.

**Erik**

As I grabbed the handle of my lonely abode and pushed it open, I was greeted with a delightful squeal.

"DADDY!"

Before I knew it, around my waist would be wrapped my pride, my joy, my little Fae.

Fae was seven. She had grown much since the day she was born, a princess from a storybook with beautiful raven hair and her mother's bright blue eyes. She was my precious treasure. Beyond any price, any diamond, was my little girl.

"Fae, sweetheart," I scooped her up into my arms and pressed kisses along her gentle, light tan cheeks. She giggled.

"How was work, daddy?" she asked me. I sighed, knowing I could never tell her of how the Shah makes me build chambers of mass destruction...under the influence of forced drugs.

"Good, I guess. How was your lessons from Uncle Nadir?" I began to walk her into her bedroom, as it was getting late and we both needed sleep.

She yawned, curling up against my chest before I kissed her forehead and laid her down onto her bed, tucking her in. She had already dressed herself in a fleecy white nightgown before I had come home.

"Daddy," she whispered, pointing tiredly at a framed photograph of Jessephine I had placed at her bedside, "what was Mommy like?"

I thought long and hard how to answer her, for I was shocked that even at her age, she had never bothered me to ask about how her mother had been. She asked simple questions about Jessephine like, "Was she pretty? Was she nice? Did she love us?" Questions children could comprehend.

"Well," I cleared my throat, sitting on her satiny bedside beside her, "your mother was a sweet, kind lady who wanted to be there for you and me, but she couldn't, for the Shah took her away and sent her to heaven." How else was I supposed to explain this to a little girl?

Fae rubbed her eyes, smiling gently.

"Why did the Shah send Mommy away? Will we ever see her again?" she murmured. I pulled the covers up and around her little body, right up to her neck.

"The Shah and your mum didn't get along very well, sweetheart, and she wasn't supposed to come home and have you, so he took her away when you were born. You'll see her again one day, my little Fae. She does love you, she always loved you. Now get some sleep, okay? Tomorrow is a busy day."

.::.

I nestled myself into my own bed, overcome with exhaustion, when I felt as if the world was spinning, spinning in wide open circles, until I was in a dream of darkness.

What kind of dream was this? Usually I dreamt of peace, quiet, but no, I could make out a person in the distance.

"Fae?" I called, but when the lady turned around, it wasn't my daughter, it was Jessephine! How odd was this, I thought, I hadn't dreamt of her for at least four years, out of fear I would continue mourning over something long since lost.

I reached forward to touch her, but she was too far away. Instead, her eyes blazed with knowing passion as she raised her eyebrow.

"You don't have much time left, Erik," she said, but it felt like a shout that rattled my core, "Tomorrow, something is going to happen. And you won't expect it or want it, but you'll have to heed my warnings, the Shah will be involved in this sinister plot. A spark will be lit, and then bonds you thought you had will be torn and reconstructed until you reach the afterlife..."

I froze. This didn't make sense! What did it MEAN!?

"Jessephine!" I shouted, but she was already faded away into nothingness, leaving me to be fixed with spastic shaking, and everything grew dizzy. A single voice filled my ears, making me shriek in alarm.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

My eyes forced open, and I started panting for air. The morning sun sparkled and scattere through the window, and Fae's hand was shaking me all around.

"Daddy, wake up! You're going to be late if you don't get dressed!"

I looked at my pocket watch, then gasped.

"Oh no..." I growled, leaping out of bed. I only had thirty minutes to get ready and get to the Shah's palace today!

Yet I could almost feel Jessephine's warning wrap around and traumatize me like a thick winter cloak...


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So very sorry for the late update. I don't think the next update will be until tomorrow or Monday. But here you go :)**

**.::.**

**Erik's Flashback**

I rocked Fae back and forth in my hands. She was one now. Her birthday...sharing the same date of her mother's death, was a depressing subject even for I to handle.

Her hair was starting to grow a bit more rapidly, normally now. It was halfway down her neck in sweet, small sprouts, in a glorious pale blonde color.

I stroked it in her sleep, nestling her up against my chest, before humming a soft lullaby from my childhood. No, of course, it wasn't a lullaby sang for me, it was one I heard a gypsy mother sing to her two little children. It only seemed right for me to sing a gypsy song for my half-gypsy daughter, even though instead of the tan skin Jessephine had, she was pale and fragile-looking like I. I could only hope one day she'd be brave like her mother, this tiny creature my wife had named Fae.

Placing Fae down into her laden cotton cradle, she stirred, body adapting to this sudden change of my warm arms to the fluffy bed, before she continued her tired sleep. I fondly gazed at this simple spawn of mine, looking so peaceful. I wondered now, had I been as peaceful as this as a child?

No, no, I could not have, for a monster was never at rest. The demons inside me burned as I lay in my cot that night, remembering how I didn't save Jessephine when I needed her the most. Oh Jessephine! You needed ME the most, and I did nothing to help you escape. But then again, nothing could be done...but Fae needed her mother. How was I supposed to raise an infant on my own?

.::.

**Erik**

Once more I returned to my home, to find that Fae had already left with Nadir and Reza to have a playdate. I trusted Nadir with my child. Chances are, Nadir would be back with them much later. He's forgetful, but oh well.

I made myself dinner, then left the scraps outside in the food bin. The Shah insists all scraps are recycled for use by the prisoners. I for once thought it was a disgusting idea, but what could I do in objection? Right, lose my head.

As I began to sit upon my reading chair, having just gone to the bazaar to buy a new book, in which I had succeeded in finding, I heard scratching noises coming from...outside. As I peeked through the doorstep, someone in a blue coat and shawl was rummaging through the scrap box! Most of Persia was starving indeed, I was a fortunate one.

I took a step outside, clearing my throat.

"Ahem, what are you doing?" I asked as calmly as ever. Suddenly, the figure whirled around to face me, trembling with fear.

This was no man, this was a young woman, who appeared around my age. Her face was glistened with tears, her eyes hollow and sleepless in a shade of a vibrant and brilliant green. Her chocolate curls were obviously too much of a mess, for they stuck out of the cloak she was wearing.

"Please, don't hurt me," she whimpered, "I'm just really hungry, and well, your house was easier to pick from because no one lives close by..."

"It's okay, really, I don't mind. But scrap boxes can be full of germs. Do you need a meal?"

Her face lit up, and her hands moved away from her chest and reached out for mine, which was already outstretched. I felt a tad fond of this poor, innocent woman. The oddest thing though, is she wasn't a gypsy or a persian, she was fair-skinned as I was born. I cordially smiled, leading her in the kitchen for a meal.

As we entered, her face was lit up in sheer awe and fascination, as her eyes sparkled with the wonders of a long dead flame, not kindled enough by the spark of the world.

"Your house is so pretty," she exasperated. I cocked my head in confusion.

"Yes, I suppose. Where do you live?"

When she didn't answer, and looked at her feet, I knew the answer. She was homeless.

"Nevermind. What's your name?"

She hesistated, before piping, "Well, I'd rather know yours first."

I cleared my throat a bit, for it grew congested out in the cold air.

"Erik Mulheim," I said clearly and softly. Her eyes lulled as she thought of this for a moment.

"That's a nice name. I'm Christine Daae." she murmured. She looked exhausted, and I knew I had a spare bedroom down the hall from Fae's room.

"And even more lovelier is yours. Are you terribly hungry still after eating some scraps? I have a guest bedroom if you need it. Stay as long as you need."

So now this strange girl was following me down the hallway, where I gave her a warm, new bed to rest upon. Oh gosh, I think I blushed when she thanked me, but then asked a startling frightening question.

She pointed to my velvet black mask, before cocking her head to a side, eyes fixated on the strange full facial mask.

"What _happened_ to you?" she whispered.

"I was born," I grittily said, a bit taken aback and irritated by this odd curiosity she showed me, then sighed, realizing my hostility, "I was born with half my face deformed. My mask was too small for me when I came to Persia, so he had me crafted a full face mask so passerby's couldn't just yank it off."

I brushed my hands across hers, before taking it and courteously laying a kiss upon her delicate fingers. Her cheeks flushed in a bright scarlet briefly, before she curtseyed back.

.::.

A dream came this time around more easily, as Jessephine's haunting face came into view, then the rest of her, as she smiled like she used to.

"Step one is complete, Erik. You will realize your destiny soon," she whispered.|

I balled my hands into fists. What did she mean now? Was this even the real Jessephine?

"Jessephine, don't you play games with me!" I snarled, glaring her in the eye.

"This girl, do you find her attractive?"

Oh, now she crossed the line! How could she even go there, believing I would live in unfaithfulness to her radiant beauty?

"No, and I do not plan on remarrying ever...my fate lies with you," I desperately replied. To this she smiled.

"That's ironic," she purred, but then when she saw my face, she quickly added, "Ah, you'll figure out tomorrow. Might I warn you not to irritate the Shah of Persia, for he will have a little...gift for you."

With that, just like the night before, she faded away into nothingness, leaving me in the dark on what would happen, what was to become of me. Would I perish tomorrow at the hands of the Shah, just like Jessephine? And what gift?

Remarrying was not an option. I would never love another..._never_...

Because true love was supposed to last forever, right?


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here is the big turning point chapter. Allow for several flashbacks to ensue.**

**I am going to try to have a flashback every chapter up until the Persia section is done... I know what you're thinking, "This story is called Radiance of Persia! Not all the story is about Persia!?" Nope, they have to go to a certain Opera House at some point in the not too distant future ;) hehe, no spoilers, sorry!**

**ENJOY THIS CHAPTER!**

.::.

**Christine's Flashback**

"Papa, I want my mum," I sniffled into my arms. My father scooped me up and held me close to his chest, holding my brown curls up onto his shoulders with a great big sigh.

"Your mum is in heaven now, sweetheart," he murmured almost sadly.

"But I want mum now!" I whined, trembling as I spoke. He set me down in my bed, beginning to tuck me in for the night.

"Christine Rosa Daae," Papa said with sudden sternness, "She's not coming back, I've told you a million times, she's dead!"

He then stormed out of the room, leaving me in a sobbing heap. That would be the first time my father was ever angry with me from his grief, but would not be the last.

.::.

**Erik**

I woke up on time on my own this morning, then rose from my soft bed with a yawn. The Shah...something was going to happen today with him, Jessephine had said. What would that be?

I folded the sheets back up. The housemaid would arrive in an hour and wash all the dirty clothes and bedsheets, so I was good for now. As I threw on good clothes and exited my room, I heard cheerful chatter. Had Nadir come so early, and uninvited at this hour of day?

But no, I was shocked when I found Christine, that poor urchin I had rescued from the horrors of the streets, entertaining my daughter by playing dolls with her. Fae never had a girl to play dolls with, but the young woman seemed talented with children.

I stood, fondly watching as Fae naturally giggled and then when they were finished, my child gave Christine a hug and "thank you." When they returned to the kitchen table, I finally cleared my throat, making my presence clear. Christine looked startled as she awkwardly dipped in courteous bow.

"Good morning sir," she said, but Fae cut her off.

"Daddy! I didn't know you got a new lady friend!" she shrilled, running to my arms to greet me. Christine and I shared both red hot embarrassment. My daughter didn't know any better.

"Uh, I suppose so, Fae darling... have you eaten yet?" I asked.

Christine smiled, before speaking again, "I was about to fix you both breakfast. My father used to make me crepes in the morning...before he died, of course."

When I nodded her approval to cooking for us, she, as if she'd lived here her entire life, pulled out plates and ordered us to sit at the table, cracking a joke with Fae, which made the girl cackle in pleasure, which made me force a grin away, for I was quite enjoying the company and the laughter ensuing in the house. The last time I had laughed, was when Jessephine was still alive...

.::.

**Erik's Flashback**

"I have something special to tell you, Erik," she whispered into my ear teasingly, taking me to the living room. I rolled my eyes as she took my hand, throwing peeks at me over her shoulder as she sat me down onto a leather chair.

As she pushed me down onto the recliner, she sat herself onto my lap, wrapping one arm around my shoulders comfortingly, as she took my hand once more and guided it to her stomach.

"What is it now, woman?" I groaned in response. She grinned even wider now, placing her own hand over mine firmly.

"Feel. Just wait and feel." she murmured.

I sighed, closing my eyes, only for them to jolt open when I felt a deep stirring cross through her stomach. It couldn't be...

"I'm pregnant, Erik. Isn't that wonderful?" Jessephine squealed. Only horror came through my mind.

"Did you tell the Shah first and get permission?" I grimaced with fright. Suddenly her eyes popped as well, and that look of terror seized both of us.

"I forgot," she gasped, "I only learned today."

I put my hands over my face to keep tears from falling. We were truly both going to die now. The Shah would forbade the birth of this child, for sure, now that we had failed to inform him. Oh god, what would become of us?

.::.

**Erik**

I began to eat my cinnamon crepes with pleasure. My black mask was hurting my cheek, but I tried not to mind for the sake of Christine being at the table with us today. It would not bother Fae should I remove it as usual, but Christine...oh, the girl would be terrified out of her living mind.

It was only half of my face that was deformed. I had a small, straight scar on my cheek from a knife duel with a rebelling guard long, long ago on the not deformed side, but small scars were normal amongst the land of Persia. The other half was the face of the devil himself.

I had asked the Shah for a slightly bigger mask when I had arrived to work. Instead, he chose to give me a full-faced, seeing it would make me appear more malevolent to defiant newcomers whom I had to hire. A test of character, he said.

Whatever.

I chewed slowly as I could, and Christine didn't notice. A wave of calm bubbled across us, until...

"Mister Mulheim, I have arrived to-" It was the housemaid. She came in, her eyes widening as her hands flew to her mouth. She shuddered, and I jumped up and whirled to cover Christine.

"You-you...you remarried without the Shah's permission!" she shrieked, running down the streets and alleys. I was too tired to chase after her, but my face hushed in with distraught. I was surely a dead man now, that the maid believed that I had done such a crime to the court.

And yet, they came quickly. At least ten guards came to the house, and I grabbed Fae and held her close to me as they took myself and Christine away, to the Persian Court, in which the Shah began to grin, the corners of his lips curling into a malicious grin.

"I hoped to see the day when my precious mason would marry another," he snickered, cocking his head back and laughing. I gritted my teeth.

"We aren't married," I snapped back. His smile faded, and he yelled something in Persian to a guard, who approached me, grabbing my shoulder and whirling me to face him. Before I had the chance to fight back, my mask was grabbed and thrown off my face, before I was shoved to turn to Christine, whose pale face was stricken with tears, though to my surprise, she did not turn away, only mouthed the words of unnecessary sorry.

This was not her fault.

"Now tell me, Erik, is she your wife, or at least, will she become your wife?"

When I shook my head, the guard struck me, making me yelp in pain. Fae was being pushed away from me, to which Christine reacted quickly and took the sobbing, frightened girl into her arms. Once more, the Shah giggled maniacally.

"I'll take that as a yes. I shall have a private ceremony for you shortly. My guards, take the lady and the child out of the room while I speak to my mason. Alone." he sternly ordered.

When at last we were alone in the room, I was suddenly scared to talk, but the Shah obviously wasn't, for he continued his parrot-like speech.

"So Erik, dearest, you are a valuable asset to my kingdom. Once you are married, I am giving you a week to consummate-"

"Consummate?" I echoed numbly. He nodded, then gave me this eerie look.

"Fae looks like a lonely child, does she not?" he mused. Regretfully, I nodded.

"Yes, if you do not consummate, and if in one year's time, there is not another child born to your renewed family, I shall take her from you and sell her to one of my guards to be raised. I think Jacque Alronn would be good, no?"

I grimaced, my stomach lurching. Jacque Alronn was the personal torturer of the Shah. As soon as the girls were old enough to be fertile and active, he'd force them to marry him, then rape them until they died. At least 10 young ladies had died in his hands, and three of them from childbirth.

"Are my orders clear, Erik?" he snapped, arousing my attention. I nodded meekly. I felt numb from head to toe. Jacque Alronn...taking my little Fae from me. I would do anything to protect my daughter...but I didn't want to hurt Christine in the process.

As Christine was ordered back into the room, the private ceremony was held, and she was forced to kiss my hideous face. I tried to back away, but she accepted my malformed lips as if I was a normal man, then pulled me into a sympathetic hug, but it was worthless, for my vow to Jessephine seemed all a waste now. In fact, my life seemed a waste.

As I lay in my bed again that night, this time Christine forced beside me, I chose not to take her as the Shah had suggested. No, instead, our backs to each other on the cotton bed, we slept, and Jessephine once more returned to my dreams.

"What do you want, now that my vow to you is broken?" I cried weakly. She smiled softly, and shook her head.

"That girl is your fate. It's okay to take her as yours, no harm will come to you if just let your love bloom. I've been sent from Heaven to guide you in this new marriage," she softly cooed. Fury boiled in me.

"You know I loathe the man they call God! He's never done anything good for me!" I snapped back, hands balling into fists. She rested her hand on my shoulder, before lifting up my chin.

"Erik, you'll get stress lines shouting at the man who gave you a daughter and a new wife. Fae is happy. She has a mother now. Christine will give her all I did not give her, and I trust her to take care of my child, and I trust you now to let me go." Jessephine insisted with a smile.

I scowled once more, crossing my arms as the tears continued to flow down my cheeks. How could I leave Jessephine like this!? Did she think it was that easy?

"I won't let you go!" By the time I looked up, she was gone, leaving me to scream out her name once more.

_"Jessephine!"_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This chapter contains a mention of some very dark themes, so if you'd like to skip over Christine's part where she's talking to Erik about her past to avoid it, by all means, go ahead. However, I reassure you it does not contain explicit description.**

.::.

**Christine**

"Erik, wake up," I shook him, as he had started to cry in his sleep and flail, and it made me feel horrible, wondering what terrible nightmares could ensue inside my husband.

His eyes cracked open, and he panted for breath.

"Wha-what...Christine?" he murmured groggily. I helped him up to a sitting position.

"You were screaming in your sleep, dearest," I whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek, which made him recoil, causing a stake to drive through my heart. Why was he rejecting me? Did he not love me? What had the Shah said to him to make him hate me so? Or was it because I had only met him yesterday, that he did not believe in true love? I felt so attracted to Erik regardless of his face...and he couldn't accept that.

"Please don't call me that." he moaned, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he stared me down, examining me with preciseness.

"You know, after all that's happened, you never told me why you came to Persia in the first place."

I gulped, thinking about that time when I was eighteen and young, carefree in France with Raoul...but since Erik was my husband, I guess it was right to tell him.

"Well, I lived in France for a year after my father died. I worked at a little pastry shop around the corner of a grand opera house being built, when I met the Vicomte deChagney, Raoul, who I had met years earlier in my childhood. We thought we were in love, and I became engaged," I paused painfully, remembering all the stressful memories, "And then we became engaged, and I found out on my own I wasn't ready for marriage, and I told him no. And he didn't like it, so..."

Tears once more flew out of my eyes. That painstaking night with Raoul, where he beat me across the head. For some reason, Erik held my hand reassuringly.

"Go on. I promise, I won't be upset by whatever you say, I've had to bear plenty of pain in my lifetime," he gently cooed, with an almost romantic tone.

"So he pinned me down and beat me black and blue, then, then...then he raped me, and I ran away from home as soon as it was over. I got to Italy for a while, but when a man tried to grab me there, I ran even further and came to Persia, and then I wandered around, hungry for a month until I found you." By now I was crying, and Erik sighed, pulling me uneasily into a hug. I was just happy that Erik had rescued me, even at his own cost, from the streets...I didn't deserve it, any of it!

"Christine, please don't cry, we'll awaken little Fae."

With that, he and I had a long, hard glance, before he began to press kisses along my neckline hungrily, which confused me at first, before I accepted this was his way of acceptance of my presence...no, as our marriage, before I wrapped my arms around him in pure bliss, because if there was any man I wanted, I wanted my guardian angel, Erik.

.::.

**Erik**

Much later in the morning, I awoke to find the covers messed up completely. Throwing on a loose shirt, I went to my dresser to redress myself. Christine was still bare in bed, her hands wrapped around the covers with a happy smile on her face within her slumber. This forced me to smile too, for seeing her happy, made me happy.

When I had fallen back asleep earlier, Jessephine had not returned in my dreams again. Maybe it was a one-a-night thing, I thought with confusion, or maybe I had fulfilled something to keep her from tormenting me.

As I strolled down the hallway, I creeped in and peeked at Fae's bedroom. She was playing on the floor with her dolls again, but when she heard the door creak open, she turned and smiled at me.

"Papa, look at the pretty doll Christine gave me yesterday!" she squeaked, holding up a simple, probably hand sewn, doll with yarn hair. However she had gotten the fabric for it, baffled me beyond compare, but it was there.

"That's nice, sweetie," I murmured, walking in to sit beside her and watch. As she cuddled my arm softly, I suddenly remembered everything that happened last night. Thoughts whirled through my head, and I quickly added, "You don't have to call her Christine anymore, she's your new mother."

Oh god, what was wrong with me? I jumped to conclusions so fast, what would Fae think now? That Jessephine was nothing? Fae walked over and pointed to the photograph of myself with Jessephine when we were younger and Fae had not been born yet.

"That's you and mother, right?" she whispered again, eyes wide and emotionless. I nodded.

"Yes, that's your old mother. She died giving birth to you," I lied, though it was not a cruel lie, "and she loves you in heaven. But she doesn't want you to be lonely anymore, so she sent you a new mom to make you happy."

Fae now lightened up, to my relief.

"Daddy, I like your new wife," she squeaked.

I pulled her into a hug.

"I do too, sweetheart."

But I still was a bit edgy about Christine. Sure, she was my wife now, and I had claimed her as mine just hours before, but if she were to become pregnant as the Shah requested of us, what would become of this new family?

I walked into the family room, once more to be met with a knock on my door. It was the Shah, when I leered through the window, and he was casually standing there, with two guards behind him. When I hesitated, he entered upon his own accord.

"Guards, bring me the bedsheets." he ordered. They marched into the room, making Christine yelp. I heard tussling, then she came running down the hall in a quickly thrown on nightgown, and into my arms in fright.

"What is the meaning of this?" I snarled at my ruler. His eyes glared at me from the corners as he examined the fresh bedsheets in a very, creepy and personal way.

"I see you had your way with the new Mrs. Mulheim, hmm?" he taunted.

When I looked down at my feet, he snickered.

"I hope to see a new child around your house in a few months' time, maybe a little less than a year? Wouldn't want Fae to be sold away, would we? Have a nice day, sir," he sneered, before leaving immediately. Christine looked at me in confusion.

"Erik, why did the Shah come back? What did he want with us?"

I sighed, running my hand through her hair.

"It's a quarrel he and I have that his blasted mother started. Come along to my office. We have some planning to do."

.::.

**Erik's Flashback**

At last I found myself sprawled across the ground, lain a bloodied heap.

Every bit and piece of me was dying, I was certain, from the lash of the nasty sun up above. The sand, the heat...oh...it cracked my skin so, it hurt to move.

With the last of my strength, I let out a terrible cry, to which a sudden response came, "Help that man to his feet and get him some water!"

Suddenly I was faced-to-face with a man I would later know as a terrible dictator. He had saved me for nothing...but yet that evil grin crossed his face.

"Hello, dear sir. I'm the Shah of Persia, and you are?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: For those of you who have read my fanfics before, this is the magic part where I spam you the next few chapters of timeskips to keep the story going. For those of you who are not fans of Erik/Christine and favor Raoul, lots and lots of Raoul bashing is on its way. Sorry!**

**I know that I chose not to spend much time in Persia in this fanfic, but there are three setting segments of this fanfic and I want to keep it moving. Believe me when I say you will not be displeased with the direction I take this story to-the time spent in Persia is mainly character introduction.**

**This chapter sadly is the one that is what I call a "rift chapter" that will drive some of our beloved characters apart-but it will not be forever.**

.::.

**Erik**

Three months passed. The plan was simple...I even had Nadir on with it. I would smuggle both families out of Persia. My best friend and his son, Reza, then Christine, Fae, and I. There was absolutely no time to waste. We already had the horses-we only needed two, because Fae was so small, I could fit the three of us together on one.

"Fae, please honey, pack your bag." I said when she asked me what we were doing. She nodded, then began to put away her gowns and the few dolls she had. When she was done, and I realized it was only halfway full, I stowed away her photo of Jessephine and I, before writing a letter. I wasn't sure if anything were to happen to me while I was getting us away from this terrible country, but I wanted her to know every day that I did love her regardless if we were to part ways.

Christine approached me as I put my head in my hands, a bit stressed over this escape plan. She rested her hands on my shoulder.

Even in simple, old clothes of mine for the journey, Christine looked gorgeous, her green eyes showed nothing but love and brimming pride, her brown hair tied back in a curly, fluffy pony tail.

"I have something important to tell you, Erik, before we go. It's really important," she said, sparking with excitement. As she opened her mouth to tell me the news, I cut her off.

"I'm sorry Christine, you'll have to wait to tell me when we're out of harm's way. I believe you when it's important, but just wait, I promise you I'll listen when I know we'll be safe, dearest." I pressed a reassuring kiss to her cheek, and forced a smile on my face, for I was not certain on how things would turn out.

She nodded, though she seemed a bit upset.

"Alright, darling, anything for you," she murmured, then turned and went to go check on Fae. At last, Nadir and his boy arrived through the back door.

"I have the horses ready. Shall we depart?" he said, sounding as world weary as ever. Grimly, I nodded, before shutting the blinds.

"It's time to leave this place behind," I mumbled.

.::.

It was past midnight now as we rode on. I was sure we were towards the borderlines of Persia, for we were now close to a bridge over a creek. I had Christine and Fae in front of me on the horseback, and Nadir was guiding the way, having traveled far on escapades for the Shah's doings.

"Daddy, how much further?" Fae yawned tiredly, resting her chin onto Christine's arm.

"We'll be there soon dear, we'll-"

I must have spoken too loud, for everything went by fast.

"Stop, by the name of the Shah!" someone screamed, probably a lone guard, for I heard the twang of the bow then...

Searing pain shot through my shoulder, and I let out a bewildered shriek as I tumbled off the horse. I heard Christine shout my name, and Nadir howl some instructions as he lunged at the guard. I couldn't see anything, for when I hit the bed of the creek, everything went black.

.::.

**Christine**

"Daddy, how much further?"

Fae nuzzled herself deep into my arm, tired from the long run. We had been riding for hours now, many long, begrudging hours, and I still had to tell Erik the most exciting news of our happy lives...

Erik cleared his throat, also very tired, before beginning to speak, "We'll be there soon dear, we'll-"

Then time seemed to slow down.

I heard a shout.

"Stop, by the name of the Shah!"

I reacted and turned my head to see that Erik was shot...oh, he had been shot with a flying arrow by a young man, probably a guard sent to watch the bridge, and was hurtling down into the creek!

"ERIK! NO!" I screamed in horror. Nadir suddenly stopped, turning the horse to face me, and then yelled, "Continue and go to the nearest inn! I'll meet you there when I can find my way...if I don't, continue the journey to France and look for a Madame Giry! Go now! Go!"

I didn't hesitate as I, crying and sobbing at the top of my lungs, whipped the reins on the horse and rode as far as I could, finding a little cobblestone inn, and quickly found shelter.

Oh, how scared I was. As the hours crawled by and daylight shone through the window, while Fae whimpered in her sleep, I couldn't help but cry, for I had never gotten that last chance to tell Erik I loved him, and that...oh, how it hurt to realize...

That I was pregnant.

I was pregnant with Erik's child. A child that would never know his father, all within a few brief minute hours ago... I had lost him forever. No. I would raise this baby and Fae both to love and remember their father, because I loved him so much, I could not bear to lose any fragmented memory of him.

.::.

**A/N: OH NOES! THE FAMILY IS SPLIT UP! Nope, don't worry, Erik will return soon back to the fanfic, but for the next few chapters, where he is will be left up for the fans to figure out. Next chapter will contain probably the last timeskip for a while in this story. Many, many chapters with this next setting will be coming up. Yes, to TNP who I told earlier, Christine is going to the OPERA HOUSE!**

**Baby Gustave on the way~ Yay**


	7. Chapter 7

**Christine**

"Please! Open up!" I knocked my hand hard against the wooden door. I was praying that Madame Giry and Meg would open up. I hadn't seen them in years, but I was desperate as I clutched my little baby boy to my chest, Fae holding onto the hem of my skirt. I had no idea how Nadir knew them, I assumed rather that some chance meeting in his journeys had brought them together.

As soon as Meg answered the door, she was clearly aged by a bit, but retained her cutesy charm.

"Christine? Is that...is that you?" she gasped, hands flying to her mouth as tears filled her eyes. She immediately pulled me into a hug, before staring down at my children. Horror struck her.

"Are they..."

"Raoul's? No. No, they aren't Raoul's. I'm sorry I left so suddenly so long ago-but I'm in great need of a temporary shelter..." I mumbled numbly. Meg immediately nodded, taking me by the hand and leading me inside.

Madame Giry must've been out on an errand, for Meg tended to me immediately, wrapping a warm blanket around my shoulder's and providing comfort for Fae.

"What happened to you, Christine?" Meg murmured softly, her round blue eyes reflecting with nothing but empathy for me. I sighed.

"I told you in a letter what happened between Raoul and I. I then fled to Italy where I was until a man tried to grab me and I ran away from that home...and then I came to Persia..." I paused as Fae snuggled sleepily in my arms. Fondness shone in me as I stroked her hair gently.

"And I met this little girl's father, Erik Mulheim. He was a wonderful man, and when the Shah noticed our attraction, he forced us to wed, but it wasn't exactly wrong either, because we did fall in love, and I adopted Fae as my own child. I became pregnant, but he didn't know yet, and then while we escaping the country he...he was shot and killed by a Persian guard. I wanted Gustave to meet his father," I began to cry, "but he won't, because Erik is dead!"

Meg squeezed me into another hug, where I began to sob hysterically now. Oh Erik! Why did you have to die? Why!?

.::.

**Three years later...**

.::.

"Think of me...think of me fondly..." I walked away from rehearsals content on not hearing Carlotta's terrible notes tremble and fail.

At least a year ago I had become a ballet girl for the Opera house with my daughter, Fae. It paid good money and kept food on the table, though never before had I been hungry since I moved in with the Giry's. I heard about Raoul occasionally and saw him on the streets, though he would not recognize me, thank heavens.

I don't know what I'd do if I were to encounter Raoul in person. Probably, I'd slap him and scream, then go before court and testify about what he did to me years ago...he could try all he wanted, he would never win me over. I was free...but it came with the price.

The price of course, would be Erik's death. I never recovered. I never socialized with any men except those who are co-workers or my bosses, the managers Firman and Andre. Other than that, I did not desire to flirt or flit about. I did not desire any other man than my Erik...and it was a vow of marriage I would keep until death do I part.

At last I entered my room, number 29, and shut and locked it behind me. As I glanced around, I studied the note that Fae's room was the right. In fact, we had a joint-room, which meant there was a door in between in case we needed to communicate quickly. I heard chatter from the other side of the wall. She was probably talking to herself, a weird quirk she did much like Erik had in the past. I assumed maybe it was something they both had done to keep the loneliness away. I wish I had the guts to talk to myself, but I was scared I would cry for Erik in every sentence, and that was something I didn't need.

I faced the mirror, before rubbing my face down softly with lotion. My skin had gone dry from hours in the sun playing with both my children.

Gustave, my son, had grown into a fine toddler. He had thick brown curls, and oddly enough, had those weird amber eyes, one dark, one light, just like his father. I imagine he would grow up and be tall like Erik too, but who knew?

In silence, it came, as I opened up a newspaper. The headline read, "OPERA GHOST: MYTH OR REAL?" I scoffed. It was only a dumb story that one of the chorus girls came up with to scare off newcomers.

And yet, I would learn, perhaps not.

In the oddest of ways, I began to place the newspaper down, sighing softly, before staring at my reflection in the mirror. I looked beautiful, but I didn't feel beautiful. No, I felt ugly inside, because inside I burned with hatred and undying love that for some reason, nothing could quench. I groaned into my hands, crying upsettingly at this rage I could not suppress, and snarled at the mirror, "I wish I had never gone to Persia, then I would never have this grief."

All the candles suddenly blew out, and I shuddered at the sudden darkness...but a light was illuminating now, through the cracks of the mirror.

"Persia, you say? When was the young Viscountess in Persia?" a voice boomed.

My eyes widened, my eyebrows furrowing in fright, "Who's there?"

"The Phantom, dearie, and I'm not a myth." Now the voice sounded like it was to my right, but when my head jerked that direction, not a soul was in sight...at least of what I couldn't see.

"Fine. If you're really the Phantom, show yourself, I'm not afraid of you, I can fight! And don't call me the Viscountess, I'm not married to Raoul!" I howled. He giggled.

"Alright, I will, Madame, show myself to you, under one circumstance...you won't tell anyone of my presence here, in your dressing room..." he crooned almost deviously.

When I nodded, the mirror swung open, and an outstretched hand reached mine as a white-masked man in cloak and fedora smiled.

"Now what did you say your name was again?" the Phantom purred.

"Christine." I said defiantly, taking his hand with one last look at my room. If he was going to kill me, Fae and Gustave would be cared for by Meg...yes...

He, with one finger, lifted my chin.

"What a dazzling name for a dazzlingly defiant woman. Now, shall we descent?"

Even though his voice sounded so familiar, I was so confused. I almost felt like, with this complete stranger, a hint of Erik whisked around his every move, and yet, Erik was dead and gone, just like any familiarity of the Phantom. So I was lost, in his tunnel deep down to hell, lost in myself.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I apologize if this chapter appears rushed, but it sets the mood for the ENTIRE rest of the story, trust me :)**

.::.

**Christine**

I sat by the large organ as the masked man played on. It was funny, that Erik had worn a full mask, but this man wore a half-mask. Maybe, I thought sheepishly, I was just attracted to men in masks, but then I remembered, Erik was dead, and I was in the home of a ghost.

"Christine?" Both the Phantom and I looked up as Nadir Khan was standing there, watching us in horror. As soon as I had been down there, Nadir was grabbing me and trying to pull me away.

"Stay away from him, please," Nadir growled, fear enhancing every one of his senses. I struggled, kicking as he tried to haul me away. Why was he here!? Where had he been, all these years?

"Khan, put the poor woman down, I was merely entertaining her. She's my guest." the Phantom snorted, crossing his arms and giving a deathly stare to him, which baffled me when he let go, letting me fall to the sandy shore with a thump.

"Oh no, no, this can't be happening," Nadir groaned miserably, wincing away from my gaze.

"What's going on? Nadir? What the hell?" I shrieked.

"Go on, ask him what his name is, Christine, and you'll hate me forever for avoiding you all these years! Go on!" Nadir snapped. His anger and self-loathing took me aback. What was he hiding.

I looked down at my feet, before staring back at this man, the Phantom, he wasn't bad looking, in fact. He had some normal cheekbones, and a small, straight, and healing scar on his right cheek. His eyes were hidden by the shadows of his hat and mask, though I was certain they were a light color by the reflection they shone. His hair was straightened back in a wisp of cleanliness.

Clearing my throat, I said the words, "Well then Phantom, what is your name?"

He paused, thinking for a moment.

"To be honest, I have so many names I can't remember. My birth name I do know...my name is..."

"Don't answer her. You hit your head and have amnesia, you're only going to pain her and everyone around her!" Nadir warned, but I sent him a chilling, silencing stare.

"Nadir, I want to know." I said shakily, turning to face the Phantom again.

The Phantom shrugged.

"My mother named me, Erik Mulheim."

Without another reaction, pain shot through me. Amnesia...Erik...the bridge...Erik was alive!? And he was right here!? Why would Nadir keep that from me...did he know what I went through?

My first reaction was to raise my hand and yank his mask off, making him gasp in terror, before I slapped him as hard as I could, all my strength pulling into my striking hand. It must have been powerful enough, for he stumbled despite I knew he was more muscular than he appeared.

"Khan, mind explaining to me why my guest is slapping me?" he growled.

Tears began to fly out of my eyes like waterfalls as I broke down and sobbed. Neither men knew how to react to this, both standing in stupor to my horrendous ability to cry like there was no tomorrow.

"Well, long story short," Nadir had a nervous laugh, "when you hit your head on the creek bed, you lost all your memory. She's, uh, your wife?"

"Khan," Erik moaned angrily, putting his hands over his face and slumping back. A torrent of grief struck me as I ran to his side and hugged him.

"Dear lord, for three years I thought you were dead; Erik, don't ever, ever leave me again!" I whimpered, pulling him close, though he didn't return the hug, rather was confused by it. He gently pushed me away, before glancing with Nadir again.

"So you're telling me, Daroga, this sobbing mess is my wife, and when you told me I merely fell off the bridge when leaning too far over, that instead I actually was shot by an arrow and knocked off a horse?" he murmured numbly. Without another word, he turned, jolting to his feet and fled, leaving me to only cry some more. I was so confused...

"Christine, I'm sorry-"

"Don't be sorry! You kept him from me, I could've helped him! All I can think of now is how you, the honest Nadir, lied!" I spat, curling myself into a ball of emotion.

"Understand I kept him away to keep him from doing this; he has no memories of anything before you arrived, that's how badly he's hurting on the inside, because he knows there's a time gap from then and when he was aroused from his unconsciousness. When I woke him up at last, he asked why we weren't in Persia, and asked for Jessephine."

"So that was her name, huh?" I deliriously whimpered, "her name was Jessepehine, and he always loved her more than me!"

"No, he did love you, he just needs a...a spark. Tomorrow, tell you what," he pleaded desperately. His olive hand took mine. "I'll take you to Erik tomorrow, and let you bring Fae and your other child along, and see if a memory stirs?"

"Yes," I agreed with a chirp, "Yes, I'll bring Fae. He's bound to remember Fae and link her to me. And Gustave...oh, he'll finally know his father!"

.::.

**Erik**

I couldn't perceive this thought that I was married to a useless, intolerably stupid ballet girl, with no talent, no style, no...nothing. She was a nothing.

I had always been aware that there was something else, tugging at the back of my mind, screaming my name, that in that time between my slumber and my reawakening, there was somebody else in the picture, but who?

I assumed now that I had best keep this Christine in my future contact, rather, she could be of grand use to me...but what use was using a wreck of a woman? But wait-maybe she knew exactly where Fae was! My darling, sweet little Fae, who I had searched everywhere for in each waking hour to no success. I would not fail Jessephine in caring for her, ever in my life.

"And Gustave...oh, he'll finally know his father!" I snorted. So Christine had a bastard child with the Viscount? So what? What did it bother me? I lay upon my plush bed, closing my eyes softly, knowing any second now I'd be drenched in my own nightmares soon, oh so very soon...

.::.

**A/N: THEY'RE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN! Sort of.**

**Complete with your sarcastic Erik, crying Christine, brave little Fae, and then an obnoxious Nadir! Four in one package! Woohoo!**

**Again, in most dreadful apologies, I did not wish to have you hanging for the next chapter this week because of my sporadic updating skills (also known as high school homework conflicts), so I wanted to provide you with CLIFFIES ANYWAYS. HAHAHA.**

**Anyone wanna guess where Raoul will pop up first? Don't say the Opera House, because he won't sneak around there :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I promised my readers some Raoul action soon-well, here it is. Hope you appreciate my Raoul/Christine-bashing skills! haha! Enjoy! c:**

**I was thinking of writing my own version of a Genderbent Phantom + Love Never Dies. Would anyone read it?**

.::.

**Christine**

I arose at dawn the next morning, early as ever, for my weekly trip to the cemetery to leave a rose at the grave of my father. I had grown up for a while here in France with him, and much did I miss him. He would give me advice on Erik...he would help me see the light at the end of the tunnel, but alas, he was dead.

As I walked icily down the roadways, a few blocks down I spotted the rusting iron gates. Prying it open with my bare hands, I creeped in and began to tread softly on the fallen snow, before pausing. There was a tall figure in black, staring down a grave before dropping a torn-in-half bloom to the ground beside it. I approached them cautiously.

"Hello!" I quietly acquainted. When he turned, he was spooked to the bone by my approach. It was Erik, and he had not sensed my arrival.

"Ch-Christine? What are you d-doing here?" he said, teeth chattering against the cold.

"Erik, honey, might I ask the same? You look freezing!" I cried, removing my scarf and, against his willpower, wrapping it around his neck. He daren't refuse, for he wasn't a fool.

Instead of answering me, he drew my attention by pointing down at the grave, insisting I read it. I bent down, for it was small and insignificant, but I first noticed a portrait of a woman.

The woman had straight, short hair with flowers embedding around the scalp line, and her eyes shone like starlight. I read off her gravestone silently:

Madeleine Mulheim

1874-1900

Wife, Widow, and Mother

I recognized exactly what this meant.

"Sh-she was my mum," Erik said sadly, "My p-papa died when I wasn't e-even born yet, so she raised m-me. I ran way when I was nine and h-hid at the Giry's for a wh-while. Meg wasn't old enough to know me, b-but when I turned seventeen I fled again when she saw my f-face. I then was in Persia..." he trailed off, scratching his chin in confusion, but then tiredly sighed.

"It's okay, Erik. I came here to leave a rose at my Papa's grave. My mum died when I was six, so I don't remember much of her either except her happy face."

With that, he nodded, and then began to walk away to give me some peace. I let him go this time, because I was already meeting him later with Fae and Gustave.

In my hand, I walked the long way to the back of the grave, taking careful footsteps as the snow deepened. I held the rose in my hand gracefully, before I came upon my papa's grave. With a single prayer, I kissed the rose and tossed it in through the bars.

"Thank you papa, for sending me my husband," I whispered in conclusion, smiling to myself slightly, before rough hands grabbed me.

I shrieked in torment as I recognized my attacker, just as he smashed his lips upon mine. I was thrown into the bitter cold snow, where I screeched as he flew his fists upon me once more across my cheek.

It was Raoul.

"Husband, huh!?" he screeched. I tried to crawl away, but his foot smashed onto my chest, pinning me to the spot. I cried out again, to which he plopped on top of me, ripping off some of the fabric on his shirt and gagging my mouth back. I moaned to the best of my ability, hoping someone would hear.

I didn't want him! I wanted him to leave me alone, and fast! I began to feel my tears trickle down my cheeks, though it would do be no good as his hands grabbed me all over, groping and beating me black and blue. As he reached for my skirt, I began flailing again as he tore it clean off, yes, in the snow, and then lain himself above me, kissing me.

"You fight so hard, Christine, so damn hard, but in the end, I ALWAYS win!" Raoul snickered. Just then, as I squeezed my eyes shut, ready for what he was about to do to me, Raoul let out a twisted cry, before he crumpled to his knees beside me.

I didn't see anything after that, for my vision was fading, but my skirt was being pulled right back up onto my waist, and one arm underneath my body, the other from underneath my arms, as someone strong held me close to their chest, before I passed out into a dizzying darkness.

.::.

**Erik**

I stirred in the mashed tea leaves to the warm water, before pouring in a bit of honey. I placed the warm cup beside Christine's sleeping figure. I needed to get her some bandages for her wounds-she certainly would have to stay down here, to my deepest despair, until her cheek wounds healed at the very least, but she was bruised and bloody all over...

I felt a twang of guilt for believing that after the stupid boy did this to her, that this child she mentioned as "Gustave" would be anyone other than sadly, my son. It only made sense, with the gap of time missing from my memory. Three months didn't pass with me unconscious. Something had happened. Something bad had happened. And I didn't know what.

Stirring was the first thing I heard as I began to bandage the knife wound on her arm. She must have been numbed by the snow, for from her screams and the time the wound spent healing, it was one of the last wounds the Vicomte laid upon her body. She was fortunate at the very least I had HEARD her screaming for help, and then in my rage gave the idiot a good blow to the head.

"Where am I?" Christine groaned, looking up sorely and exhaustingly from her place in the swan bed. Fondly, I smiled.

"Miss Christine, I couldn't just leave you there in the snow to be taken advantage of or worse, could I?" I mused. Her eyes widened.

"Erik? Erik..." she began to cry as with her good, unharmed arm, she wrapped around  
me, smothering the uncovered half of my face with her sweet, beautiful kisses. I forced the hysterical girl to let go of me, before suddenly she was filled with fear.

"Fae and Gustave! They're home alone!" she gasped. Fae!? She had my daughter with her? Without another word, I said, "I will fetch them, don't worry. The Giry's home, right?"

When she nodded, I turned and stalked off. I needed my daughter...and she needed me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Erik**

The Giry's house was a decent size. Madame Antoinette Giry had been married to Alfonzo Giry, one of the richest men in all of France, and they had two daughters, one named Elizabeth and another named Meg. Meg was still around, but Elizabeth had married off to an equally as wealthy man and gone far off to England to live out the rest of her days.

When I looked at Madame Giry as a child, even so I had seen her as a sad old woman with no one to talk to anymore since her husband died and left her just with Meg. Meg on the other hand was overly exasperated and excited about the world in every way and form.

I knocked on the door, lowering my head to hide my mask, before Madame answered, gasping.

"Erik Mulheim, well bless my heart," she said, in shock, "I didn't know you were alive. Christine had mentioned that you had been killed on the way from Persia!"

I nodded, this time a bit more welcoming to accepting her gentle old embrace. I patted the old lady on the back as carefully as I could, before changing my attitude.

"The children-uh, I came to retrieve the children. Christine sent me." I said with an awkward cough. She responded quickly.

"Oh yes, of course. Usually Christine picks them up though-by the way, where is she?"

I looked down at my feet.

"You can blame the Vicomte for that. She got a harsh beating when he found her at the cemetery and I heard her screaming for dear life. She's in my home at the moment."

"Again, bless your heart Erik, for rescuing the poor child. Speaking of children, let me fetch Fae and Gustave for you. Are they going to be staying with you until Christine is well?"

I nodded, though still staring at my shoes.

"Yes. I would hate for them to walk around town looking for Christine and cross the Vicomte's path...that would not end well." I grunted.

"Of course, of course," she hurried to the staircase, "Fae, help your brother pack their bags! Someone here is going to pick you up!"

I hesitated. I had not met this Gustave yet. Would he look like me or Christine? Would he have curly hair or straight? His eyes, were they blue or amber? Maybe even both? Whatever he looked like, I was scared, not knowing this strange child. My biggest fear was that Fae would loathe me for nearly dying and leaving her...had I known she was still alive, I would've searched harder, but Nadir never gave me any information, nor did he inform Christine.

What hurt me the most, I presume, I couldn't even remember my wedding to Christine. I couldn't remember her and I sleeping together, I didn't remember loving her. Not that I don't love her now, it was just awkward that I have no shared memories with her, and yet she is lain across my couch claiming to be married to me. I no doubt believe her tale, for it fits right into the time gap, but leaves me wondering, what else has Nadir lied about?

I heard footsteps, and I looked up, to hear a thud of a leather bag hit the ground.

"Daddy!?" it was a shrill cry. There she was, standing in the corridor with her much now longer blonde hair pulled back in a bow string, in her favorite blue dress, where suddenly I broke down in tears.

"I'm here, Fae, I'm here now," I whimpered, and she ran forward and squeezed her arms around my body, sobbing at the top her lungs.

"I missed you so much, Daddy. Mommy missed you too, and Gustave." she cried, nudging her little brother forward.

I looked down at this pale figure of a child, very skinny and frail looking, in fact he was barely smiling. His face was much like Christine's, lithe and with a gently curved chin line, but although he had soft curly hair locks, his eyes glowed bright yellow, twisted with passion and glory...

This was my son. This was mine and Christine's...and now, I understood it all.

.::.

**Erik's Flashback**

"I know exactly who I choose now, darling," I murmured into her ear, "And it will always and forevermore be you."

"Erik," Christine fretted, "What if we die trying?"

"Then we die together, because no one will tear us apart, even if we are oceans apart."

.::.

**Erik**

I smiled back to Gustave, hiding my sudden, small memories that had returned to me. It wasn't much, but it was enough to know where my heart lies. In my hands I entwined theirs as Fae carried Gustave's tiny backpack and her decent young lady's purse.

Home, I decided, that's where I'll take them. I'll take them home and there will be no question about it. Oh god, what I fool I'd been to listen to Nadir!

"Papa," Fae whispered, finally speaking when we were halfway to my lair, "Where have you been all this time?"

"I was kept away," I blandly replied, not quite sure how to respond, "in a special place by your Uncle Nadir and Cousin Reza."

Reza being part of it was a lie. I didn't want to tell Fae the sad news that Reza had suddenly died after we arrived in France.

"Okay, Daddy, just glad you're here now and forever." she cheerily squeaked, squeezing her palm tightly around mine. I grinned, happy to see my baby girl once again.

.::.

**Christine**

"I knew it was foolish to let you stay with Erik," a voice snarled.

From out of the shadows came Nadir, who had his arms crossed and his head shaking sadly from side to side. He clicked his tongue to his teeth three times before continuing.

"Did he do this to you?"

I glared at him. How dare he suggest Erik would lay a hand on me!

"No. Erik did not. He rescued me from the hands of Raoul this morning," I half-heartedly snapped, turning my back to him. When he put his filthy, deceiving hand on my shoulder , I whirled around and slapped him.

"Don't touch me!" I cried, burying my hands into my face as the salty tears burned my bruised and cut skin.

"Christine, please, I'm trying to help you. Erik is not the right man to-"

"Erik isn't the right man to love? Then you tell me who I should be with! Raoul is a terrible, terrible man, and Erik would never hurt me. He wouldn't hurt anyone!" I howled. He grabbed me by the shoulders again, shaking me back and forth until I felt dizzy and weak.

"You think Erik's so great? Raoul may have hurt you once, but Erik, he's killed so many people! He's tortured them, murdered them brutally. Do you even know what his job for the Shah was? He built torture chambers!"

My blood froze. Erik...torture chambers? Was that really what his job was?

As Erik entered the room, both men stared coldly.

"So you decided to tell Christine all I did, huh?" Erik snarled. I watched, anticipating a brutal argument with fear. I couldn't cry out, for the children ran and huddled beside me in fear.

"Yes, I did, you selfish bastard!" Nadir screeched. Erik narrowed his eyes, clenching his teeth as tight as he could bear.

"You weren't there, Nadir, to see the things they DID to me to force me to build those chambers. You weren't there, so you have no reason to say it was all my fault." Suddenly, Erik faltered, in a dizzy haze, and he laughed maniacally, stumbling and hitting his back against the wall.

"I would scream and scream as the Shah ordered his men to pin me down. 'You refuse to build these for me, master mason, you leave me no choice.' And the needle went into my arm...oh how it hurt, but then I couldn't feel anything as I constructed these rooms to slaughter...then as they died, I would cry from deep inside but couldn't yelp, because all I was, was a numb skeleton. That is pain, Nadir, that is pain..."

Erik stalked away to his bedroom, when I heard it slam and lock behind him, leaving me clueless with so many questions. Without another word, his mouth gaping open with shock and unresponsiveness, Nadir vanished, presumably leaving for his own home.

Fae and Gustave buried their faces into my chest, both shivering from fright. I had not a clue how to respond in Erik's change in character, or what Nadir had told me. How was I to trust Erik now, knowing he had killed dozens of innocent men, women and children?

.::.

**A/N: Uh oh, drama to ensue...please review! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Just saying, this chapter is going to have a boatload of foreshadowing, so keep your eyes peeled. ;)**

.::.

**Erik**

In my sleep, suddenly, a light appeared. Such a bright, fascinating light, and in the blindness appeared...

Jessephine.

"...J-jessephine? Is that you?" I gasped, for she had not appeared in my dreams since the night I wed Christine.

"Yes, it is me," she said in a confident voice, "but are you yourself?"

I looked down at my feet, and back up. Why would I not be myself?

"Of course I am. Woman, what are you getting at?"

"You are denying Christine! You may have fragmented memories, but until you can submit and believe you're married to her, your memory will not return!" Jessephine boomed, her jade eyes narrowing into slits.

"But I have accepted her! I do accept her...I love her!" I cried, bowing and grabbing the hems of her dress pleadingly. Jessephine shook her head, clearly ignoring me.

"Do you love her? Can you say that to her face? Erik, you do not love her, not yet, and once you discover the meaning of true love and finally let me go, you will be blessed with many children, wealth, and a prosperous family...Yet the guilt of your murdering, drug-induced past is haunting you."

I heard the sudden ring of carnival bells. As I stood up, looking around, I could hear Christine crying my name among the crowds of freaks surrounding me.

"Coney...coney..." someone whispered in my ear. I whirled around, but people were shoving past me, knocking me to my feet. I had to help myself up, for the nightmare soon unfurled.

"ERIK! Please, help us!"

As I looked high above me, on a Ferris Wheel, instead of seats, there were three cages stuck at the top. Fae, Gustave, and Christine. Fae was lowered down, much more mature now, as greedy men grabbed at her most sensitive areas, making her cry in tears. I couldn't move, speak, or yell, as hands lashed out, beating me black and blue, as Jessephine began to walk away.

"NO!" I screamed, flailing and thrashing with the only strength I had.

.::.

"Erik! Wake up! Erik!" Christine was shaking me madly, concern dotting her gaze. I sat up, tears pouring out of my eyes as I dragged her into a struggled hug.

"Dear god, I thought I'd lost you..." I wailed, shaking in pitiful sobs.

She placed her hand on my forehead, when her eyes widened.

"Erik, honey, you have a fever. I wish there were some way to cure your nightmares," she murmured.

I slumped back down onto the bed as she rushed back in with a wet, warm towel and placed it on my forehead. Her arms were still covered in bruises, and yet, after learning the truth of my past last night, she was still helping me in her own weakened state.

"Why are you helping me?" I moaned through chattering teeth. I sighed at the relief of the towel being pressed down softly.

She cupped my chin with one hand, her brow wrinkling. I could see every elegant detail on her extravagant face from here.

"I...I don't care what Nadir said. If it's true, and the Shah forced you to kill those people, then I won't blame you, for he was a very terrible man who put everyone in the country under extreme stress. I do love you...I just, I guess I just...I just wish you could love me back."

She then suddenly added in a stammer, "I'm sorry. I was kind of thinking aloud there. I know you love me... because we're married and..."

I smiled tiredly.

"You're fine, Christine, really you are," I grumbled exhaustingly. I tried to sit back up, to comfort her, but she pressed me back down into the covers, pulling them up to my neckline.

"I may be fine, but you aren't. Get some rest."

Without another word, her lips pecked my cheek, but they were cold, unfeeling lips, not at all those full of passion or love.

As she began to leave the room, I stifled a whimper.

"Ch-Christine?" I cried out. She turned back, cocking her head in confusion.

"Yes, Erik?" she purred softly.

"Your Erik loves you," I murmured tiredly. She had a half-hearted smile.

"As does your Christine. Now sleep, or I'll have to punch you in the nose," she joked quietly, before leaving the room. Overcome with tiredness, I drifted back into a much more peaceful slumber.

.::.

**Christine**

I wish I could believe him. I wish I could believe that Erik loved me...

But as much as he pretended, his memory hasn't come back, and even before we were kept irreparably apart, he had been plagued by viscous nightmares.

Tormented, crying for his Jessephine, who always seemed much more and more perfect than me, the blonde woman who died a rebel and was no more than as I said, a rebel.

A foolish woman, in my eyes.

When I laid myself back down after tending to Erik, I would only have, and start a chain of...strange dreams.

.::.

"Hello, Mrs. Mulheim."

I looked up. I was in a simple plaid gingham dress. I was out in a clear meadow, and yes, that dreadful Jessephine was here.

I couldn't help but break down into tears.

"What do you want? Why do you want to destroy my marriage!?" I shrieked, trying to slap her for all the damage she'd caused, but I found I could not move.

The woman smirked, crossing her arms.

"And that's typically the thanks I get, for giving birth to Fae, dying at the hands of the Shah, and paving a path to guide Erik so he could find a way to love another after my death. Ungrateful, are you not?"

My face turned bright red, and she chuckled a bit.

"Embarrassed now, aren't you?" she sneered.

"No! I'm not embarrassed of scum like you," I fumed. She laughed again, making me ball my hands into fists.

"Scum? And what were you? Scrapings off the street, going through the scrap bin, while I've tried to help both of you. Erik's not exactly stable if you haven't noticed. I don't want to have to care for him in his dreams any longer, you should be able to watch over him now and love him, for my sake." she inquired, pacing back and forth.

For her sake? For HER sake!? Oh, how dare she foil with my emotions and feelings! I went through hell to see Erik again, and raked myself across the coals to collect his broken soul from what she had left behind.

"How DARE you!" I snapped.

"Dare me? What kind of dare would you prefer? I am a daredevil, if Erik hasn't said, especially in the bed."

She rolled her eyes, staring me down.

"Or are you not good enough obviously for me to want to help you. He won't let me go. I'm dead, why are you letting me get to you?"

Tears jerked from my eyes. Why was she patronizing me like this? If she wanted to help me, why? I had so many questions I knew this witch would never answer.

"You're jealous," I sniffed, "You're angry because I love him, and I love my daughter and son. Erik may be broken but I'll find a way to put up the pieces, if I have to use a nail and hammer, by god I'll do it!"

"Might want to use glue instead, because his porcelain heart can't be fixed with nails, it'll break it further, sweetie."

Suddenly, she faded, just like that, and I was lost in a swirl of amusement parks and roller coaster rides. I felt someone shove me down into a cage, and I was being lifted into the air. To my right was Gustave, a few feet below me.

"Gustave! Baby! Are you alright!?" I screamed, reaching for him, only to have him not respond. Far below me, Fae was being handled roughly by men as they filled her pockets with coins, just to touch her. And there was no sign of Erik.

"Should've stayed with Mister Y!" someone whispers, but when I turn around, no one's there.


	12. Chapter 12

**Christine**

Erik went off to town the next morning. I didn't know what he was doing, and when prompted he only said, "Looking for something." Whatever.

Fae and Gustave sat in the kitchen, awaiting my cinnamon crepes to be done cooking. When I passed them their plates and went to the couch to rest, I heard something whispering in my ear.

"You need to go to America..."

I looked up, glancing around. Fae and Gustave had been happily chatting the whole time...who else in the whole world could be in here?

"I hope Daddy lets me buy a new dress! Aunt Meg said that if he says yes, she'll help me pick out a pretty one!" Fae squeaks.

"Toy, toys?" Gustave asks innocently in his toddling age. I can hear Fae's chair shuffling as she scoots to presumably help him cut up and eat his small portion of breakfast. She was always a good sister.

"AMERICA! HURRY!" the voice screams, and then in a sudden hush, the unearthly presence vanishes, leaving me shivering. I wanted Erik...where was he, and why would I need to go to America?

.::.

**Erik**

Down the streets, past the peddlers, the withered with weakness, to a place I loathed the most.

Old memories came back to me, though obviously this was not the same place as I had spent my childhood. No, it was different.

It was a gypsy caravan. Adorned in fool's gold coins hanging from sheet tassels, was a wagon, almost like a tent, on the far end. Obviously she was an outcasted witch. They were usually in a way unapproachable, those to those in need of a remedy, they'd do plenty for bits of cash to spend in the next country they leave off to.

When I entered through the door, I noticed indeed it was a shop. For the walls were decked with herbs, and it scented of spices and mystic charm.

"Hello?" I called. No response.

Instead I examined potions lain on a table. I picked up a round one with a almost blueish glow to it.

FROGSCOTTLE it read.

Nope. Not interested. I put it down, then scooped up the next one. It was tall, thin, and only looked like it had a little bit of liquid left.

DEW OF THE GODS

No thanks.

MISFORTUNE, FEATHER TAIL, GROW-UP-TALL, INTO THE FOREST...

No, no no! I shook my head in frustration. I didn't need these, what I desired was a potion far better than any of these, something a bit like magic.

I glanced up at a glass case decked in a white sheet. Approaching it cautiously, the floor squeaked, making me wince. Oh gosh, if anyone was in here, I would most certainly die soon.

With nimble fingers, I weaved my fingers onto the sheet, reaching, reaching, swoosh!

I pulled it off, finding a small bottle inside the glass case. No, not small, perhaps a good size swig, but it was merely a mouthful. I removed the casing and held it in my hand.

The bottle was called RADIANCE OF PERSIA. My eyebrows cocked as I read the label.

"For all your desired radiance, woven right from the sands of the Persian desert, and the purest of water from the Gulf.

When consumed, be prepared, for in the place of your most desired, you will cause the suffering of another..."

I smiled. Yes. This was perfect! RADIANCE OF PERSIA was bound to solve all of my problems! With a grin, I tucked it in my coat. I had plans to make...

For before I would drink this, I wanted to take Christine far away with the children. Somewhere safe. But where?

Among the streets I walked once more, hoping to get a glancer at a newsy.

When a little boy with a mail satchel came running up past, I paused.

"Hey, boy!" I called.

He turned around, grinning. His front tooth had a nick in it. Poor lad probably brawled kids twice his size, in foolishness, too.

"Th' name's Gavroche, the newsletter boy, a franc a paper!" he explained, pulling out a huge letter. I smiled, nodding as I tossed him the coin, and he raced off and vanished again.

The front page would solve all my answers. Yes! Christine, the children and I, would leave tonight, with all the money I had earned scaring the Opera House!

For the headliner's first word was...

"AMERICA"

.::.

**A/N: I hate to inform you I won't be able to update again until later tomorrow due to a family road trip. This story will be in my thoughts though! :)**

**RADIANCE OF PERSIA, hmm? Sounds familiar, wonder where that potion's name came from?**

**Oh...and hmmmmmm, anyone catch the obvious Les Mis reference? LOL**

**Peace out! :D**

**-PhantomLilac**


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